After a dominating its way through the Blossom Valley Athletic
League West Valley Division, the Sobrato girls soccer team
accomplished two of its ultimate goals. After beating Silver Creek
5-1 on Friday, the Bulldogs won their division and are headed to
the Central Coast Section playoffs. On Wednesday, Sobrato faces
Archbishop Mitty at 2:30pm in San Jose. The Monarchs are seeded No.
5, the Bulldogs No. 11.
San Jose – After a dominating its way through the Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division, the Sobrato girls soccer team accomplished two of its ultimate goals.
After beating Silver Creek 5-1 on Friday, the Bulldogs won their division and are headed to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
On Wednesday, Sobrato faces Archbishop Mitty at 2:30pm in San Jose. The Monarchs are seeded No. 5, the Bulldogs No. 11.
Before Sobrato could start preparing for CCS, the team had to defeat Silver Creek in a one-game playoff.
Bulldogs coach Stephanie Pearson said she was anxious before the game because she had never seen her players nervous.
“They were extremely nervous,” Pearson said. “I got scared because they have never been like that for a game before. I thought (the game) was either going to go really well or it was going to go really bad.”
Sobrato didn’t show any of its pre-game jitters in the first half as the team scored two goals and stifled the Raiders.
The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead heading into the second half pn goals by sophomore midfielder Kayla Nishimatsu and junior forward Remy Gross.
Early in the second half, Silver Creek scored a goal after junior goalkeeper Katrina Olson came too far out of the net to play a ball.
Pearson said she changed the Bulldogs usual game plan in the match againstSilver Creek. Most teams Sobrato played during the season used two forwards up top, but the Raiders use three.
“I went to a stopper-sweeper (combination),” the Sobrato coach said. “That way all their forwards were marked. It shut them down last game and I think it worked today.”
The Raiders brief rally was the closest Silver Creek came to getting back in the game.
Shortly after the Raider goal, high-scoring Ashley Grose broke free deep in the Silver Creek zone and rushed down the middle of the field with the ball.
Grose got in close with the goalie, stutter stepped, then put a shot past the Raiders’ goalkeeper.
The Bulldogs didn’t stop their offensive pressure after going up by two goals.
After receiving a pass from Grose on the left side of the penalty area, Katie Alton blasted a shot off the Silver Creek keeper that hit the far side of the net to put the Bulldogs up by three.
Late in the second half, Cecily Nishimatsu put the final nail in the coffin after her shot from the left side of the field caromed off the post and into the net to make the score 5-1.
Despite their strong offense play in the second half, Olsen still needed to make big saves.
The junior goalkeeper aggressively challenged shots and threw her body onto
balls before Silver Creek could get a good scoring opportunity. Pearson praised her keeper after the game.
“I’d give Trina MVP of the game,” Pearson said. “That was the best game I’ve seen her play. She didn’t face much action during the season and today she came up big for us. She is one of the best goalies I have ever worked with.”
Pearson added that Silver Creek was one of the toughest teams Sobrato had played all season. The two-game regular season series was tied 1-1 between the two schools.
The Bulldogs now face Mitty, which finised the regular season on a four-game winning streak. The Monarchs were the No. 1 team in the West Catholic Athletic League with a 10-2-2 record.
The playoff game will be Sobrato’s first appearance at CCS in the program’s young history. The winner takes on No. 3 seed Palo Alto at a neutral site on Saturday.
